This year, in-app purchases will likely outpace pay-per-download revenue, but according to ABI Research, the number of people buying content in apps won't grow all that much, potentially putting that revenue opportunity's future in doubt.

Mobile apps are a big business.
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"As a revenue model, in-app purchase is very limited today," Mark Beccue, ABI Research senior analyst said in a statement today. "The vast majority of current in-app revenue is being generated by a tiny percentage of people who are highly-committed mobile game players. We don't believe the percentage of mobile game players making in-app purchases will grow significantly, so for in-app purchase revenues to grow, mobile developers other than game developers must adopt it."

Beccue went on to say that Google, which only started allowing for in-app purchasing in its Android Market in July, could help that market grow or hold it back. For now, he says, Google is "literally holding back the growth of mobile application monetization."

"In 2012, it will become increasingly difficult for app stores and developers to justify charging an upfront fee for their products when faced with competition from a plethora of free content," IHS analyst Jack Kent said at the time. "Instead, the apps industry must fully embrace the freemium model and monetize content through in-app purchases."